Different Environments
The Role of Computer Systems in Different Environments Microcomputers (Personal Computers) Home Personal computers are in pretty much every household nowadays and they are used for many things, for example. · Games are a part of computers whether they come as games that are already installed like pinball and minesweeper or if it’s a game that is played off of a disk or a USB or even a game that is played through a browser. · People do use computer more and more now to work from home and a computer is a huge part of home business as you need to for if you need to send or receive any details. · Computers are very useful in the range of education since there a sites on the internet and there are programs that provide education tools · Computers are used for shopping a lot due to sites like Amazon and Ebay and with online backing and improved security means it is a lot easier and safer to buy things online. · Social networking has always been a big thing for computer since sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Business Personal computers are used a lot in business with similar uses to home computers but are sometimes a bit more advanced, for example · Emails would be used a lot more since emails will need to be sent between members of staff or customers. · Business will also be using online shopping so they can purchase things like business supplies. · Whereas business used to have large physical storage units to keep documents and such safe they now use the computer’s hard drives or cloud storage to keep a digital version taking up less space. Computing Gaming Computers are used for more than just work, web browsing and emailing. They are also used for gaming. · Different types of games can be played, where it be buying a physical copy from a shop, you buy a digital version or you can play the game online through a web browser. · You can buy or build a computer with the sole purpose for gaming. · Unlike console gaming PC has the ability to allow players to use modifications to improve their experience. Networking Networking is just the way of sharing things over the web from one person to another, you can do many things on a network, for example. · You can share files over a network to other users. · Things like printers, scanners, drives can be attached to a network and can be used by anyone who is on the network · Games can be played on a network which allows more people to play. · On a network tasks can be performed but on a much larger scale, this can mean they can use more data for the task or more people can contribute to it. Real-Time Real time is the term used when something is happening at that moment like when watching a video and it plays with no pauses or delays. If there were any pauses of delays then it would not be considered as real time because of the fact that it takes a second or so for a response or a task to be performed. · Typing on keyboard and having the input appear straight away without any delay would be considered as real time. Communication Computers can be sued for many different types of communication like · Emailing · Faxing · Social media · Video calling Microcomputers (Mobile computers) Home Mobile computers are devices that are not restricted in movement like a desktop. Mobile computers main selling point is that they are portable, these mobile computers include these · Netbooks · Tablet computers · Smart phones · PDA’s Business Business may sometimes require work to be moved around so instead of using a desktop and using either emails or external drives to transport businesses will also use Mobile computers. · A range of laptops and netbooks will be sued to make moving data around easy · Employees will most likely have their own Mobile computers · Business will have their own hotspots or Wi-Fi access which will allow staff to send and receive data easily. Gaming Gaming isn’t restricted to powerful gaming PC’s, games can be played from devices like your mobile phone, tablet device, mobile computer and handheld gaming device. You can do many things with these like · Any device the as an internet connection has the ability to get access to thousands of games that can be download and played at any time. · Tablets are good for gaming as well, having a larger screen and more power than a smartphone it can make gaming more fun and at a fraction of the cost of a gaming computer Networking Networking paired with a mobile computer makes being on the move with work an ease. Having a connection to a network will allow you to go anywhere but still be able to complete tasks like · Send emails to other people and share files · All the devices like drives, printers and scanners that are used by Personal Computers can also be used by the mobile computers Real time Real time on mobile computers may be a little harder as they do not have the power of a personal computer so they may not be able to display a live feed in time with the broadcast or be able to have as quick response time Communication Communication is even easier with mobile since they can be moved and not be stuck down to once play. You can use a calling feature like facetime or Skype whilst you walk around as long as you have an internet connection. Minicomputers (Mid-Range servers) Home A Mid-Ranged Servers is not really going to be used unless you are running a larger home business, running a large website which has a lot of traffic or need a have a lot of data in an online store for people to access. Business A business is more likely to use a mid-range server as they may need its power for things like keeping documentation, making sure they company’s websites, systems and networks are running properly, places to use a Mid-range server could be, · A college or university as they would need to keep documentation, keep details on students and staff members, make sure the computers systems stay operational, to make sure that the network stays running or to make sure that the college or university’s website stays online. · Hospitals may need them as they would need to keep constant documentation on all the stock, medication and supplies, staff members and the patients. · Banks will need these to keep the banks systems updated with information about people bank accounts, new and existing account holders and the flow of money. Computer gaming Someone who is into computer gaming may not needs this but somewhere that was a host probably would. For example anywhere that had several gaming rigs running at any given time or somewhere hosting an online game would need this in order to have enough power for everyone connected. · These would be needed to create lobbies for players. · The server and connections will be needed to actually allow players to play together. Networking Depending on the size of the network a Mid-Range server may be needed, for example if it was a large network with around 100 machines then one will be needed in order to allow all the machines onto the network. · A Mid-Range Server would be needed to handle all the computers at one time, especially once all the machines started trying to upload and download data from it. · A larger Mid-Range Server would also allow for more programs or programs that need more data supplied to it to be ran at one time. Real-Time Since real-time is something that happened straight away a Mid-Range Server would help make sure things would be running at real-time and being delayed less. Communication A Mid-Range Server would help with communication as it could more machines meaning data can be sent between each other with ease. Minicomputers (Workstations) Home Workstations are normally machines that are more powerful than personal computers and are connected to a network. These workstations will often include · One monitor · There may be blank Hard Drives or CD’s for to movement of data. · Basic peripherals like a mouse and a keyboard · An all in one printer · A machine that will be connected to the internet and have network access. Business A business will have workstations and they will be somewhat better than workstations at home. · They will have at least one monitor · The desk may have some organisation to it like have files or cabinets to keep things separate · The PC might be upgraded to meet the requirements of the business. · These computers will probably share a networked printer that will be used by a range of computers and will be in a central location and will be a lot with the ability to performance more tasks than an ordinary printer. Computer Gaming Gamers will have a more optimized workstation that will often include · Most of the time gaming workstations will at least one monitor but often have about two or three. · There will most likely be special gaming peripherals like a mouse, keyboard and mousepad · The computer itself will be a lot higher spec than others with higher amounts of RAM, a more powerful CPU with more cores, a SSD, a powerful GPU and a higher quality cooling systems like multiple fans or water-cooling. Networking For gaming the network may be bigger to allow more data to be sent and received making game play smoother, it would also make loading times a lot quicker as more data would be loaded at one time. Real time Workstations are most commonly designed for a certain task but they are able to carry out a range of tasks. Workstations are used with real time for a range of situations like. · Weather stations · Time zones · Animation · Simulations Communication. Workstations are used for communication but they are not used as much nowadays for a few reasons. · If a workstation is hacked or is being used by someone who is not meant to be then it means data can be stolen. · Networks now are a lot quicker and faster than what they used to be so it is a lot easier to communicate over the internet now. Large Scale Network Systems These machines are most often found in large businesses like Universities, banks and higher establishments. This also refers to systems that are able to run different hardware, are able to hold a large amount of data and is able to hold a lot of users on a network. These mainframes will not be needed for a household or most likely not a business unless you have a large amount of employees, a large amount of terminals or a lot of data that needs storing. Supercomputers A supercomputer is a name given to a computer (s) that are known for being the fastest and most powerful created. Used by large organisations like NASA they are capable of almost all tasks. These are used for running high tech simulations like how the weather would act or show how aerodynamic how vehicles are and how to design boats in order to make the best water displacement when sailing. Like Large Scale Network Systems you would never find one of these in someone’s home or in a small business. These supercomputers come with thousands of CPU cores and a staggeringly high amount of RAM but take up a huge amount of space to hold all of this processing power. The top 10 supercomputers in the world are often in this list 1. Tianhe-2 - China 2. Titan- USA 3. Sequioia – USA 4. K Computer – Japan 5. Mira –USA 6. Piz Daint – Switzalnd 7. Shaheen II – Saudi Arabia 8. Stampede – USA 9. JUQUEEN – Germany 10. Vulcan – USA Multiprocessing Multiprocessing is another way of saying multitasking. Whereas a normal computer will have a single CPU a machine that is used for Multiprocessing will have 2 or more that can either work on the something to complete tasks quicker and cause less stress on a machine or can work on separate tasks meaning that more are being completed but means there is more stress on the machine. Multiprocessing is used in supercomputing due to the large amount of CPU’s which allow the machine to complete and run thousands of tasks at a single moment because tasks can be given out in a balanced load so everything is working at the same level or all the machines power can be used to work on one task, for example it took the K Computer 40 minutes with full power being dedicated just to recreate 1 second of human brain activity.